since i am not originally finnish, nor am i yet finnish, but i have lived in finland long enough to consider my self finnish, i am going to say i am finnish, and once i do get my finnish citizenship, i will not be able to keep my other citizenship and will be exclusively finnish. besides which, finns cant tell that i am NOT a finn once i start talking to them, unless i tell them that i'm not a finn

I just noticed that most of the people answering the poll are not Nordic at all. Kinda silly they still insist on butting in. >=(

Anyways, I reckon most Finns can tell I'm one by my username, but to the rest of the world, it comes as a surprise. So, uhh, yeah... What now? Do we just... report in? Is there anything to do in this thread afterwards?

Is that Hans Hækkerup you're referring to? What did he do? And the oil is in sovereign Norwegian waters in the North Sea, or at least most of it is, I know the UK have a few platforms out there as well. And true, it's very nice to have, but we don't spend the oil-money though, only the interest and investment profits it earns us. And our industries are weaker than Sweden's, and tourism is weaker than Denmark I believe. If the oil dried up tomorrow we would likely be the weakest of the Scandinavian economies, as we are a bit too dependent on it. And true, we would have a lot of weight in the EU as a union, but also a lot of responsibilities with bailing out the weaker economies and such (the whole Euro debacle really is a spectacle to behold). But it would be nice to have influence, and not just accept every single thing they come up with through the EEA(Norway has used it's right to veto exactly ONCE).

No i was referring to Per Hækkerup a former foreign affairs minister. Who according to an urban legend was drunk when negotiating the north sea oilfields with the Norwegians. Norwegian minister got Hækkerup so drunk that he gave away most of the territory. I don't know if it is true, or just a myth the we Danes tell ourselves to explain why someone would agree to such a stupid deal.

I dont think you guys can complain to much, i would love a tax free December. however you do raise an interesting point, with the way things are in the EU is it better to be a leach on a bigger country or getting sucked by leaches.

we should ask a German :D

our tourism is thriving, and i have no idea why, if our transportation system was better you could pretty much see everything the country has to offer in 1-2 days, at least you guys have snow sports and an incredible nature. If it wasn't because of the outrageous prices i would visit Norway more often.

I was born and grew up in Denmark, but am right now living in Iceland. I am 80% Icelandic and 20% danish, but I less of an Icelander than I am a Dane (although I think it would be hard to categorize myself as any nationality).

I'm Half-Danish, but I haven't lived there since I was 2. Still a fantastic country though. And it's good to know that if I ever end up terribly sick or destitute, I can just move to Denmark. You guys HAVE to take care of me. ;)

Is that Hans Hækkerup you're referring to? What did he do? And the oil is in sovereign Norwegian waters in the North Sea, or at least most of it is, I know the UK have a few platforms out there as well. And true, it's very nice to have, but we don't spend the oil-money though, only the interest and investment profits it earns us. And our industries are weaker than Sweden's, and tourism is weaker than Denmark I believe. If the oil dried up tomorrow we would likely be the weakest of the Scandinavian economies, as we are a bit too dependent on it. And true, we would have a lot of weight in the EU as a union, but also a lot of responsibilities with bailing out the weaker economies and such (the whole Euro debacle really is a spectacle to behold). But it would be nice to have influence, and not just accept every single thing they come up with through the EEA(Norway has used it's right to veto exactly ONCE).

No i was referring to Per Hækkerup a former foreign affairs minister. Who according to an urban legend was drunk when negotiating the north sea oilfields with the Norwegians. Norwegian minister got Hækkerup so drunk that he gave away most of the territory. I don't know if it is true, or just a myth the we Danes tell ourselves to explain why someone would agree to such a stupid deal.

I dont think you guys can complain to much, i would love a tax free December. however you do raise an interesting point, with the way things are in the EU is it better to be a leach on a bigger country or getting sucked by leaches.

we should ask a German :D

our tourism is thriving, and i have no idea why, if our transportation system was better you could pretty much see everything the country has to offer in 1-2 days, at least you guys have snow sports and an incredible nature. If it wasn't because of the outrageous prices i would visit Norway more often.

Very true, and that's why I mentioned it would be nice to share Denmark and Sweden's lower prices. And yes, I wouldn't trade our natur, or my ski slopes for anything.

Oh, also, I wouldn't doubt that the Norwegian minister did get him drunk, as they used that trick when marking the Norway-Sweden border. When they were walking it up, the Norwegians wanted as much as possible, so they got the Swedes drunk, and changed direction towards Sweden. And that border stuck, so that place is called Brennevinsskaret to this day. This extra land is Lierne Kommune, if you're interested.

How about several pictures?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

Despite my nickname I am actually Swedish and have never even been to Finland. It was many many years ago when I was playing the very first GTA-game over LAN with some friends, I had just recently heard of former president of Finland, Urho Kekkonen, and for some reason thought it was a funny name, so I started calling myself that and it somehow stuck for over 20 years. Sometimes playing online it can be kinda annoying to so often get talked to in Finnish though since I dont understand it ;)